October 1st marks International Music Day, which made me think of all the goodness that music brings into our lives. Is there anything else you can think of that has the ability to bring people of all ages, sizes, and cultural backgrounds together in harmony? Well, maybe chocolate, but besides that? Whether you make […]
We’re all familiar with the traditions that Fall brings, including the end of white shoes, the disappearance of productive work days due to fantasy football, and the first Christmas trees in the mall. Autumn always makes me think of Aesop’s fable “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” where the lazy grasshopper plays all summer, while […]
Labor Day snuck up on us, school has started, and the peak travel season is over. What does that mean? To me, it means road trip! As soon as the summer crowds start to dwindle and the temperatures moderate, I’m ready to hit some of the best tourist spots in my local area. Whether your […]
An apple a day keeps the doctor away. If that were actually true, we would have a much easier time with universal health care! But we shouldn’t let that untruth diminish the benefits of juicy, delicious apples. The motivation for this post was a super-cute story called “Apple Day” by Kimberly Long Cockroft in […]
Ladybug celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary this month. For twenty-five years, the magazine has tried to reflect the world of young children—and make it a little broader—through stories, poetry, art, and activities. Each issue encourages kids to take a closer look at the people and places around them. Ladybug invites children to bring their whole selves—their […]
It is no wonder we call them grand children and they call us grand parents. From the moment they arrive, they transform us into the grandest we have ever been. They give us new names, and we are never the same. They fill our hearts with love and laughter and other wondrous gifts of grandeur. […]
If your little one is heading off to school for the first time, I feel for you both. That first day of kindergarten is one of the biggies when it comes to parenting. I hear from friends with teens, that heading off to kindergarten and heading off to college evoke the same sort of intense, […]
With all the extra daylight hours, plus the nice weather that comes with summer, this could be a great time for your family to think about getting out into the world and making a difference. Children as young as 3 can pick up trash in the neighborhood, older kids can make sandwiches for a local […]
Around this time each summer, the joys of no school start to fade into the cries of “I’m bored.” I’m not sure there is another phrase emerging from my child’s mouth that annoys me more than the ubiquitous “I’m bored.” I always try to tell her to think before using it because it is inevitably […]
My eight-year old daughter is an expert butterfly egg hunter. Our backyard is filled with plants that are hosts—food plants—for the caterpillars that ultimately turn into butterflies and every summer, various butterfly species travel to our tiny urban backyard and lay their eggs on these plants, connecting their babies to the tasty treats that the […]